Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Mea Culpa

Yesterday was Toby's annual trip to the vet. We are both just getting over it now.I apologized profusely all the way there, and all the way home, but Toby was having none of it. He meowed so loudly on the 2 minute car trip there, that I thought he might rupture something; it sounded a lot like "get me OOOOOUUUUUTTTTTTT!!!"When we were at the vet, he thought that if he made himself really, really small, he might get out of this alive. He compacted his little cat body into the tiniest of packages, and sat completely still, like the vet and I might have to say "gosh, that cat was just here a minute ago, where could he have gone?", but no such luck....the vet's examination room is pretty small, and I don't care how tightly you pull in your tail, you are still pretty conspicuous on that stainless steel table in the middle of the room.

Toby got through the exam with a minium of fuss and loss of dignity. The vet decided that he didn't need a thermometer stuck up his bum, and only gave his very full bladder a cursory inspection. The needles he forebore with grim stoicism, and he only whipped his head around to glare at the vet when the second one went in. ("What the hell???? I already let you do that once!!")

Toby spent most of yesterday evening punishing me by giving me the stink-eye whenever I was foolish enough to venture into his sight, and then occasionally leaving the room whenever I entered. (We used to have a lovely, affectionate tabby cat named Puca, who felt bitterly betrayed by me whenever she had to go to the vet. Her displeasure was demonstrated by sitting about three feet away with her back pointedly towards me, with the occasional malevolent stare over her shoulder to see if I was suitably chastened. "See? See how I scorn you? Do you feel my vengeance? Let me sit a little closer to enhance your humiliation!")

To make it up to Toby, I gave him some extra tuna this morning, and then after dinner this evening, I changed the bed linen. Oh, my, but Toby loves the changing of the bed linen...he romped and cavorted and rollicked until he was quite exhausted (you can tell he's all done in by the rapid, one-eye blinking, and the snorting huffs. Very attractive.)